Writer Spotlight: Wen Wen Yang
Welcome to the 21st installment of Writer Spotlight. This week’s focus is Wen Wen Yang. I’ve reviewed 14 of Yang’s pieces, all of them individually on InkFoundry’s “Get WYSR” feed. (In case you didn’t know, InkFoundry is a wonderful and free resource that aggregates short fiction and poetry pieces!)
Recurring Themes:
Female rage / vengeance
Anti-colonialism
Chinese culture
The afterlife / spirits
Wise animal spirits
Day One - July 2
“Drought’s Vengeance” | WYSR Review
A Chinese draught goddess seeks to destroy who has stolen her water.
“How His Sins Caught Up to the Unpierceable Laoji” | WYSR Review
Laoji regales his audience with tales of his greatness while the barmaid plots against him.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
Both of these stories have themes about vengeance against insufferable men. “Drought’s Vengeance” states that the main character is Chinese. It isn’t stated directly in “Unpierceable” (and I do not want to assume as I am white as a fucking swan) but according to Yang’s Bluesky post she based the story on a tavern in a Chinese historical drama.
Individually:
"Drought’s Vengeance” Beyond what I mentioned above, there is a something extremely satisfying about this story in particular, maybe it’s just that I’ve met guys like this. A lot. Oh, also, there is a theme about mismanagement of water through rich clubs and golf courses and THANK YOU, YES PLEASE, I need more stories about destroying golf courses.
"How His Sins Caught Up to the Unpierceable Laoji” Specifically, this vengeance story is one from a daughter to a terrible father and includes an ingenious assassination method that highlights the main character’s cleverness.
Day Two - July 3
3. “Martian Wallpaper” | WYSR Review
A Martian botanist goes through postpartum depression.
4. “The Purpose of a Pyromaniac Descendent” | WYSR Review
The narrator finds herself in the afterlife after a lifetime of dealing with her parents’ homophobia.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both use the first person, and both are also women undergoing oppression of some kind, which reminds of me of the first two stories.
Individually:
“Martian Wallpaper” engages with themes about mental health / postpartum depression, as well as misogyny, lack of mental health care for new mothers, and hallucinations (mirroring the original “Yellow Wallpaper.”)
“The Purpose of a Pyromaniac Descendent” has themes of Chinese cultural heritage, echoing the first two stories. It details the Chinese afterlife, including burning things to send to the ancestors, and the ancestors speaking to their living descendants, and more. Another main theme is the homophobia the MC deals with from their parents, and the heartache she still carries with her.
Day Three - July 4
5. “Saltwater Mother” | WYSR Review
A siren translator falls in love with a human and has a child.
6.“In the Exchange of Names, I Say Please” | WYSR Review
The narrator reflects on how they pushed a possible friend away while trying to assimilate as a child.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both speak to trying to assimilate to another culture while regretting and/or longing for what was lost, and both have a bittersweetness to them.
Individually:
“Saltwater Mother” This story reminded me of “Martian Wallpaper” in how the woman is unable to stay as she is in her relationship, though in this one, the protagonist Jiang is happy with the man she chose to love. I was also struck by the theme of water / lack of water, reminding me of “Draught’s Vengeance.”
“In the Exchange of Names, I Say Please” is a story about looking backwards and wondering what could have been, as well as the mourning of a loss of culture. This echoed “Pyromaniac”, because in that story, the MC’s ancestors grieved as well each generation’s further loss of tradition, language, and culture. Synesthesia also makes an appearance here.
Day Four - July 5
7. “Big Fire, Angry” | WYSR Review
The crow and the nine-tailed fox spirit work together against the cruelty of humans.
8. “Celebration of Life for Your Dead Fictional Wives” | WYSR Review
The women characters written by a misogynist band together to save his real wife.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
Both these stories include righting the wrongs done against marginalized sub groups.
Individually:
“Big Fire, Angry” This one has a fox shifter spirit, which reminds me of “Draught’s Vengeance” and “Saltwater Mother” in that one of the characters has a form other than human. There are also spirits involved which made me think of “Pyromaniac,” however, I don’t think they’re the same? From my limited understanding and attempt at research this week (please correct me if I’m wrong,) fox spirits / animal spirits are not necessarily dead in Chinese mythology. So this correlation is more from the word in English being the same but meaning something different in Chinese culture. Regardless, I’m learning so much from Yang’s stories, prompting me to look several things up, which is awesome!!
“Celebration of Life for Your Dead Fictional Wives” Okay, yeah, I’m definitely a Yang fan because her work so often features plotting and succeeding in vengeance against misogynists and otherwise bad men. This one adds to that theme in that the women BAND TOGETHER to exact said vengeance. Also, this is from the POV of the dead, which also reminds me of “Pyromaniac.” Hmmm… would that mean that this story is also about the spirits of the dead?
There is also an element of metafiction in this one, considering the fictional characters are aware that they’re fictional. It kinda gave me the vibes of Six: The Musical.
Day Five - July 6
9. “Ghost Festival In the Desert” | WYSR Review
On the day of the Ghost festival, a Chinese cook tells a group of white men a story.
10. “Out of Print” | WYSR Review
What happens to characters of a book that goes out of print?
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both continue Yang’s theme of deathly vengeance against powerful and terrible men.
Individually:
“Ghost Festival: In the Desert” This story echoes “Pyromaniac” in that it includes the spirits of the dead! This story also includes a plot point of burning things to send them to the ghosts/spirits, as in “Pyromaniac,” (which is another thing I realized after more research is actually something from real Chinese culture, not just a fantasy element!) and the narrator is telling a story as she is poisoning/slowly killing someone as in “Unpierceable.”
“Out of Print” Another metafiction flash as in “Celebration of Life”! The metafiction part feels like a reflection on women becoming more aware and able to take control of their own stories, which I think is a lovely theme.
Day Six - July 7
11. “To Kiss the Chrysanthemum Moon” | WYSR Review
Following a successful military campaign, the general is told to become a concubine.
12. “Worse Than a Wolf” | WYSR Review
Would you rather be in the woods with a man or a wolf?
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories are both retellings! And continuing the theme of misogyny, bad men, and the women who outsmart them!
Individually:
“To Kiss the Chrysanthemum Moon” Loved the Mulan retelling of this and how it continued the story.
“Worse Than a Wolf” I never liked the woodcutter in the Red Riding Hood story. Now I know why!
Day Seven - July 8
13. “The Fox Spirit’s Retelling” | WYSR Review
A human glimpses a fox spirit in the river, but the tale is different than the one you know.
14. “Lu’s Laundry and Other Services” | WYSR Review
While working as a laundress, Lu encounters a spirit bent on revenge.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories include the word spirits, but in different meanings of either ghost/spirits of the dead, as in “Pyromaniac” and “Ghost Festival”, or spirits like spirit guides, or ancient wise beings, as in “Big Fire: Angry.” According to Wikipedia, the word mentioned in “The Fox Spirit’s Retelling,” huli jing,is “(Chinese: 狐狸精) or Fox spirits, are Chinese mythological creatures usually capable of shapeshifting, who may either be benevolent or malevolent spirits.”
This is particularly fascinating to me, because my whole fantasy romance trilogy is based around a shapeshifting fox person, and I’ve always been obsessed with foxes since I was a kid. I’ve watched a lot of anime but most of those were in Japanese, not Chinese, so I was vaguely aware of the term kitsune, but I’d never heard the term huli jing. Now I’m realizing what I should have realized before: that those ideas/concepts started from real life cultures and I should have researched their Chinese and Japanese roots. Definitely going to do that at least before I release the third book!!
The more you read, the more you realize what you don’t know . . .
Another thing these two stories have in common is that they both talk about racism and how the truth can be bent out of shape and weaponized against the marginalized.
Individually:
“The Fox Spirit’s Retelling” This story is a retelling, which calls to the mind the previous two stories, “Chrysanthemum Moon” and “Worse Than a Wolf.”
“Lu’s Laundry and Other Services” This story follows a character from “Ghost Festival,” the laundress. There is also a mention of burning things for the ancestors, as in “Pyromaniac” and “Ghost Festival.”
Emmie’s Personal Favorite: Celebration of Life For Your Dead Fictional Wives
Summary!
If I were to summarize Yang's style in one sentence, I would say she uses lush prose to demonstrate themes of female rage / vengeance against terrible men, the afterlife / ghosts, and Chinese culture and mythology.
Interview Questions
What are the themes you tend to return to the most in your work overall? Why do think that is?
Yang: There’s a fair amount of fighting against an unjust world, because /gestures at everything/. I obviously love a fairy tale retelling (“Fox Spirit’s Retelling”, “Worse than a Wolf”, “To Kiss the Chrysanthemum Moon”). There’s something about walking in familiar paths, but changing the steps, the music. I also write about being set apart from the majority, cryptids in “Big Fire: Angry”, “Saltwater Mother”. I haven’t yet found a place where I felt like I belonged, and my stories interrogate that feeling.
2. What is one of the characters in your short stories/flash pieces that you relate to the most, and why?
Yang: Almost all of my POV characters are women and Chinese or Chinese American. There’s a way the tension ratchets up when it’s from a woman struggling against a larger system (Martian Wallpaper, Celebration of Life for Your Dead Fictional Wives, Out of Print). I’ve had the family estrangement (“Purpose of a Pyromaniac Descendent”), some really unfortunate comments about my race (“Drought’s Vengeance”), been made to be the translator of another student (“In this Exchange of Names, I say Please”). Pieces of me are in every story.
3. How Has Your Writing Evolved Since You Began?
Yang: If you catch me on a good day, I’d say I have gotten more of an instinct for what the shape of a story is, what will make readers smile or cry. If you catch me on a bad day, I would say I am hitting the same notes over and over again like a toddler banging the stew pot. I felt like I’d lost the sense of my stories recently and asked a friend read through a few stories to rank her enjoyment of the stories, and how marketable she thought they were. Sometimes you just need a gut check.
4. Do you tend to start writing a story idea out of a particular element, like character, setting, or point of view?
Yang: Character comes to me first, like a Chinese drought goddess on a date with a guy with an Asian fetish; or the flash of an idea like “Yellow Wallpaper” on Mars, the lamentations of all the fridged wives. Sometimes there’s a flash of a scene, or an emotion, and I’m building up to that image. Like the blood speckled knuckles gripping an axe at the end of “Worse than a Wolf.” A large number of my stories started from prompts, like Apex’s monthly flash fiction contest, or anthology calls.
5. What short fiction author do you look up to? Why?
Yang: I admire Anjali Patel’s poetry and poetic writing https://anjali.fyi/, and Cynthia Zhang’s way with words https://czscribbles.wixsite.com/my-site/writing. When I’m trying to for a literary voice, I wonder how would they write this. Ai Jiang is a ridiculous rabbit to chase, but I can try.
6. Do you have any piece, listed here or otherwise, that you would like to promote?
Yang: Depending on when people read this, this summer, I should have “The Night of the Thinnest Veil” in Orion’s Belt, “That Summer at Aunt Jackie’s Alpaca Farm” in Translunar Travelers Lounge. You can find my latest publications on WenWenWrites.com.